Can you imagine how language would be if we always used the same words when speaking, reading and writing? If everything (person, place, object…) in the world had only one word to refer to it, the world would be a very boring place. Well, in order to make language a lot more expressive and interesting we should try to vary the words we use as often as we can (but not too often). That’s where synonyms come into the picture!

As there are relatively many English verb tenses, verbs in English come in many forms that provide different shades of meaning. However, English verbs comprise a much easier verb system than that of other languages that have distinct inflectional verb endings for different persons and number, or even change the verb stem with various tenses and aspects. In English only one verb ending remained, for verbs in the third person singular in the Present Simple tense.

A negative sentence (or statement) states that something is not true or incorrect. A negative adverb has to be added in order to negate or “cancel” the validity of the sentence. This “negation” element is created according to the following general rule.

English verbs have 5 principal parts with which other forms are derived using verb auxiliaries: base/stem, simple past/preterit, past participle, present participle and the infinitive (the “name” of the verb). Some also include the third person singular in the present tense as a principle part, as it is the only verb form that kept its inflectional ending in Modern English.

Transitive verbs require at least a direct object to complete their meaning, while intransitive verbs do not require any objects. Some verbs are bi-transitive, meaning that they are followed by both a direct and indirect object. Transitive verbs followed by an indirect object usually require a preposition.

A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate but cannot always be considered as a full grammatical sentence. Clauses can be either independent clauses (also called main clauses) or dependent clauses (also called subordinate clauses).

Dynamic verbs convey a sense of active change. They are usually used in progressive verb tenses, which denote an on-going activity. The categories in the following tables will give you a good idea of these concepts.

Finite verb forms are namely, conjugated verbs that show person, number, tense, aspect, and voice. Finite verbs, as opposed to non-finite verbs, can function as the main verb of an independent clause. Non-finite verb forms, or verbals (infinitive, past participle, present participle, and gerunds by themselves) are not limited by the subject and serve as other parts of speech in the sentence (nouns, adjectives).

Most verbs are main verbs, i.e. content words that contribute meaning to the sentence they are in (go, run, eat, prefer, ascertain). In addition, there is a closed class sub-group of auxiliary verbs that merely assist in the technical construction of other verb forms. The auxiliary verbs in English are: to be, to do, and to have. The modal verbs (can, could, shall, should, may. might, must, will, and would) can also be considered auxiliaries as they modify the meaning of the main verb they accompany.

Most verbs in English are regular verbs, meaning that they add the ed ending to form both the simple past and the past participle forms, which are identical, such as play-played-played. However, there is a considerable number of irregular verbs (about 450, but only about 200 in common use) that form their simple past and past participle forms with a vowel change, such as in see-saw-seen (see table below). Some irregular verbs do not change form at all (let-let-let). Irregular verbs originate mostly from Old English, while any new verb coined in later periods tends to be regular. Still, the ten most used verbs in English are irregular.

A Yes/No question is a closed question, meaning that it has one of two answers, yes or no. It asks whether something is true or not, i.e., whether the original positive sentence is valid. A question element needs to precede the subject in order to form this question.

A Wh question is an open question, meaning that it can have any number of answers. It asks about some missing information the speaker needs. This corresponds to the different sentence elements, such as the verb, objects, manner, place, time, purpose, etc. Questions about the subject have a special form (see the next section). A question element needs to precede the subject in order to form this question.

Tests for verbs: A good way to identify a verb when a word is in doubt is to ask, Can I do it? I can succeed (do it) is correct but I can success is incorrect. This means succeed is a verb and the related part of speech success is not a verb; in this case, success is a noun.

Nowadays, there are modern approaches to grammar, which bring it alive and relate it to our real life, outside of outdated grammar books containing endless lists of grammar rules. The older prescriptive grammar approach, used to have students theoretically analyze sentences for correctness in literary and religious texts, as if they were training to become linguists. This was based along the lines of the traditional approach to the instruction of ancient Latin and Greek, which were not even used in speech in the Middle-Ages onwards. The purpose was preserving the formal standard usage of these languages while treating grammar as a theoretically isolated area of study.

Linking verbs are a sub-group of stative verbs that denote a state of being, connecting the subject with a complement, usually an adjective describing the subject (not the verb). Dynamic verbs, by contrast, are followed by adverbs modifying them, rather than by adjectives.

The key to subject-verb agreement is matching the number of both; singular subjects take singular verb forms, as plural subjects take plural verb forms. The trick is (1) to recognize singular v. plural subjects, which is not always easy (an “s” at the end of a word is not the only sign of subject plurality), and (2) to know the difference between singular and plural verb forms.

Grammar rules – although the term may evoke memories of endless memorization of dry rules with no apparent use, grammar can actually be a fascinating subject. English grammar rules are actually very useful if not vital for English usage and English writing, if one wants to get messages across confidently and effectively.

Learning the grammar and knowing how to apply it is an important part of mastering a language. Grammar rules in English may seem less complicated than those in other languages for some people, but we are fully aware of the difficulties encountered with English grammar, especially for beginners, when trying to apply the rules when writing in English.

We learned in school that good writers should avoid using the passive voice. Yet this is one grammar lesson in particular that we all seemed to have forgotten . . . or never really understood in the first place.

Determiners are small words that go in front of nouns (also known as “noun modifiers”). The main purpose of determiners is to “mark” a noun, or to “determine” its context. Determiners identify which person or thing a sentence is describing. Sometimes, determiners “determine” if the noun/pronoun is definite or indefinite. Determiners can also describe to whom the noun belongs, or how many of the noun there are.

Not every language uses auxiliary verbs. Most Indo-European languages make use of auxiliary verbs, although the characteristics and functions of auxiliary verbs differ from language to language. Other languages replace auxiliary verbs with suffixes added onto the ends of verbs. Missing auxiliaries is therefore a common mistake for non-native English speakers...

We already explored the importance in auxiliary verbs in English grammar. To refresh your memory, auxiliary verbs are helper verbs – they are small action words that can help to express the mood or tense of regular verbs. “Auxiliary” means “to help or support”, and that is exactly what auxiliary verbs do.

Traditional English grammar divides words into eight parts of speech: verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. There are a few more terms also often used to define words, such as articles and gerunds.

The English language can be hard to master. Even those who have been using it all their lives may have difficulty with proper grammar. The use of English grammar software can teach good grammar and punctuation.

The tense of a verb indicates when the action is carried out. For a good understanding of English grammar and writing, you need to distinguish between different verb tenses and know when to use each tense.

There are mistakes that people commit quite frequently when speaking or writing in English, three of which are listed here. Watch out for these three, and you are on your way to better English grammar.

The apostrophe is perhaps one of the most misused punctuation marks in the English language. If you are not sure how this punctuation mark should be used, then check out these three tips on how to use apostrophe properly.